Niland digs deep to progress

Tennis : Ireland’s Conor Niland staged a remarkable fightback to book his place in the second round of the Wimbledon qualifiers…

Tennis: Ireland's Conor Niland staged a remarkable fightback to book his place in the second round of the Wimbledon qualifiers for the first time today.

The Irishman was three games down in the third set before breaking serve twice in the decider to beat France’s Josselin Ouanna 6-3 4-6 8-6.

Niland won the first set but lost the second and hopes faded for the Munster man in the third when he trailed 5-2. However, he broke the Frenchman’s serve in the ninth game and levelled at 5-5 apiece before breaking against his six foot four inch opponent.

Niland, ranked 187th in the world, will now face Greg Jones of Australia, ranked 218th, in the second round after the Australian shocked Italy’s Paolo Lorenzi in three sets.